Applied Makes Great Technical Gains in the Release of The Agency Manager Vision Series Version 2.2.0.

Business Editors

UNIVERSITY PARK, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 19, 2002

Applied Systems(R), the leading automation solutions provider for the property and casualty insurance industry, announced today the release of The Agency Manager(R) Vision Series(TM), version 2.2.0. Vision, while a powerful agency automation tool for any agency environment, is best suited for larger insurance enterprises, brokers and MGAs. Vision is designed to take advantage of the latest Microsoft platforms and technologies.

"This release marks a milestone of an 18-month effort in performance and scalability enhancements that were geared toward current customer satisfaction," according to Dave DeGroot, Vision Product Manager. The development phase was steered by the Vision Product Development Committee, which is comprised of internal groups such as Support, Sales and Development as well as existing users of the system.

"Over the last 24 months, we have focused on the experience of the Vision end-user," DeGroot said. "We wanted to address their specific needs and get their feedback on how to move the product forward. This is Applied's commitment to improving our customers' satisfaction. Vision 2.2.0 accomplished this by improving performance in both processing time and screen-to-screen response time. The performance in such areas as company downloads, endorsements, and reconciliations have been significantly enhanced. In addition, the release adds new features, such as support for commercial lines download. And while we are excited about the entire Vision 2.x series and Vision 2.2.0, we are equally excited about Vision's future. Vision 2.3.0 will be released in the second quarter of this year with continued emphasis on customer satisfaction. Looking beyond 2.3.0, we will continue to solidify Vision's future in our markets with improved feature sets and performance enhancements."

Shelley Mulvihill, a Vision client from C.F. Lake & Co., Inc., Minneapolis, MN, said, "At this point in time, we are very pleased with our purchase of Applied Systems Vision product and with the service we've received from Applied. We feel it has given us an edge over other agencies in our community and will continue to do so as it expands and grows."

In addition to the scalability and performance benefits, the 2.2.0 release of Vision also incorporates integrated rating with our rating partners, and Applied's web-based rating solution, Applied-Rating.com. Increased carrier participation has accelerated Applied's ability to develop personal and commercial lines download capabilities within Vision.

About Applied Systems: Applied Systems is a leading provider of automation solutions for the property and casualty insurance industry. Since 1983, we have been developing software for independent insurance agents, brokers, managing general agents, insurance companies and other financial institutions with insurance operations, such as banks. We have helped over 10,000 clients take their operations to new levels of success with our leading management system The Agency Manager(R). The Diamond System(TM), a policy processing system for insurance companies, and our success in Electronic Data Interchange have propelled Applied Systems as the technology frontrunner of the industry. Combined with our consulting services, rating solutions and third party integration, Applied has the ability to automate the insurance transaction at every level of the distribution system.